Audio Porn: Midnight Confessions

Melodic Hard Rock

3.0/5.0

Possibly everything you need to know about Audio Porn is found in their name. Founded by vocalist Azriel St. Michael, Audio Porn lives in the past, the past of Eighties melodic hard rock of the sleaze variety. Mostly, the band, music, and their second album, Midnight Confessions, is a vehicle for his amoral to immoral world view and general kinky sexual proclivities. Call it smut rock in it's rawest form.

Audio Porn: Azriel St. Michael .

Which for the most part doesn't all that interest me. Been there, done that. Don't we all know that most rock n roll is delivered from below the belt? Yet to consider Audio Porn in it's genre context, you'll find that they handle it quite adequately. This album is heavier than the previous, mostly coming from Jeff Westlake's (Hydrogyn) thick-handed wrestler riffs. More to the point, you might consider this a guitar-centered album as his leads are quite varied and spicy throughout.

After this St. Michael is straight on in his vocal delivery, his lyrics having good hooks with music emphasizing them. (Whether you want to hear his trash-talking is another question.) Unfortunately, his vocals also seem somewhat suppressed on nearly every song, mostly because of bumped up riff heaviness. If there is any song dialed back it comes with Not Saying Sorry, but even here St. Michael's vocals still seem subdued, but they're better. The highlights of the album, musically speaking that is, come with that song but also This Ain't Paradise and the single Freak Like You, both some catchy stuff. Audio Porn, continuing the smut n roll theme, does a cover of Aerosmith's Lord of the Thighs. Don't bother. Additionally, you get two bonus tracks, live versions of Break Me and Drive, which seems odd as I thought that Audio Porn was mostly a studio project. Finally, as a heads up, the album art includes an explicit image. If you want to rock like it's the Sunset Strip in 1988, check out Audio Porn's Midnight Confessions, but be prepared to take a long hot shower afterwards.

Audio Porn - Freak Like You

In Short

If you want to rock like it's the Sunset Strip in 1988, check out Audio Porn's Midnight Confessions, but be prepared to take a long hot shower afterwards.

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